We exist in a global, multicultural world and our membership reflects that.

STEP has a committee of Council members and staff who are dedicated to driving forward equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) improvements within the organisation.

We want all our people – members, volunteers and staff – to grow and thrive through their relationship with STEP. To make that happen we will treat people fairly and equitably. We will ensure equality of opportunity for all our people.

As part of implementing this commitment, we took the opportunity at the recent Branch Chairs’ Assembly (BCA) to focus on EDI. Branch chairs and senior leaders gathered at the BCA, which was held in London, UK on 6 December, to discuss a range of relevant issues to branches and committees.

We invited four branch chairs to give a case study where their branch had identified a particular EDI challenge, how they overcame it and what the result was.

Harry Joffe TEP, STEP Johannesburg

The STEP South Africa Conference had allocated sponsored slots for students to widen student participation at the event as well as encourage younger people to attend the Conference and spread the word about its value.

Four major universities were targeted to find potential attendees. The selected students had a fantastic experience and attended an event they would not have otherwise been able to due to being in relatively junior roles at their organisations. Following the event, one student joined the STEP Cape Town branch, which went beyond the initial goals.

Joel Waterhouse, STEP Isle of Man

The recent STEP Isle of Man Conference included a Zoom session where four speakers dialled into one session to give a ‘whistle stop tour of the STEP world’ for one session.

This allowed the branch to expose their members to a more diverse speaker list while also removing the barriers of cost for travel.

There were speakers from STEP branches in Cyprus, the Cayman Islands, Barbados and the US who gave a brief overview of their jurisdiction, followed by a Q&A session.

Greta Pender TEP, STEP Guernsey

Next Gen members are students, aspiring students or anyone who aspires to one day become a leader of their firm or field. The STEP Guernsey branch had considered how they better interact with these members for some time via educational and networking events.

It is important that training and CPD events are pitched at the right level so the information is accessible and useful for members in their day-to-day work.

Networking can be daunting. The Committee has focused on creating a safe space to enable and empower our Next Gen members to network with their peers. This will enable them to build the long-lasting relationships that will support and promote each other’s development.

The Guernsey branch committee also wanted to give Next Gen members a taster of what is involved in the main branch committee. The Next Gen Committee was created with an intentional mix of genders and trust-related-industries to bring diversity to the group. The Committee has provided several great sold-out events for local members.

Richard Lu, STEP China

Ahead of its last AGM, the STEP China branch committee put a lot of effort into fostering even better EDI in the branch by reaching out to a wide range of members (across gender, geography, career status) to serve on the branch committee with the aim of making the branch more accessible and representative.

These efforts were successful. The committee is now made up of members from across the country, with an even split of male/female members and practitioners at various stages of their career.

You can read more about EDI at STEP in our previous blog post.

Stephanie North, Governance Manager at STEP